There can be a lot of logistics involved when it comes to managing one of the largest financial advisory firms in Memphis.

And John Ueleke, who started Legacy Wealth Management in 1982, knew his forte was helping grow and protect people's money, not necessarily managing a growing company and especially not one experiencing double digit growth like Legacy.

By the end of the 1990s, Legacy crossed the $100 million mark; within a few years, it topped $200 million. At the end of 2005, Legacy Wealth Management had $315 million under management and was shooting toward $400 million and 315 clients, Ueleke says.

"After doing this so long you can get in ruts," he says.

That's when Ueleke realized he had someone in his own back yard -- one of his clients -- who had the ability and professional experience who could help him.

James Isaacs had been an investment client of Ueleke's for several years when he took the job as chief operating officer for Legacy in 2004 on a six-month trial basis. The question was: Could someone whose work experience included stints with global corporations like Exxon, The Mennen Co., Schering-Plough and Herbalife International find satisfaction and challenge working for a much smaller organization?

Immediately before coming to Legacy, Isaacs had been vice president of logistics for the catalogue and Internet company Benchmark Brands and vice president of North American and European operations for Herbalife. These jobs required tremendous amounts of travel. While at Herbalife, one of his last projects required him to relocate to the Netherlands for 18 months.

The grind of transcontinental living was wearing thin, Isaacs says, and with his second child on the way, his priorities were changing.

He wanted to settle down, so he left the company and started assessing his options.

That's when he lit on the idea of tapping back into his financial training -- some of his early work at Exxon, Mennen and Schering-Plough involved accounts receivable and collections -- and his interest in investing.

One of the first people he ran the idea by was Ueleke, his long-time financial adviser.

Isaacs knew Legacy was growing and thought maybe his experience in finance, operations, customer service, technology and logistics would be plus.

It was.

Although Ueleke was impressed by Isaacs' background and knew he could contribute, he wasn't sure he could afford him.

In the end, the two worked out the six-month trial with the option of Isaacs taking an ownership position in the firm if it worked out. And it did.

"I was able to see the total picture from day one," Isaacs says.

Although Ueleke considered Isaacs for a number of positions, including business development or even getting his credentials and becoming a financial planner, it was the operations side of the business where it quickly became clear that his expertise was needed.

"Jim definitely brought a wealth of experience, and he's been a tremendous asset," Ueleke says.

In the last two years, Isaacs has led a dramatic overhaul of Legacy's operations.

"There's been some significant changes of the company and how we manage client communications," Isaacs says.

Isaacs has worked to formalize the three client services teams and created a proactive strategy to regularly reach out to Legacy's 350 clients. The firm recently implemented a new software system for rebalancing client portfolios, overhauled its Web site and marketing materials and improved the efficiency of getting custom quarterly reports out to clients. He says the quarterly reports used to take three to four weeks to get out, but the distribution time has been cut to just 8-10 business days.

"Those types of things are important to clients," Isaacs says.

For someone who thrives on solving complicated issues and wringing out every bit of inefficiency, Isaacs says there's still much work to be done. But, he says, he feels good about what's been accomplished in two years.